Category: Psalms

November 15, read through the Holy Bible in a year.

James 5 begins with a stern warning to rich oppressors, much like Old Testament teaching, but this letter is to the Jews in dispersia. He tells them to be patient,       persevere, meet each other’s need and above all do not swear, but let their yes be yes and their no be no. If anyone is sick, call in the elders and pray for him.  ” The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Bring Back erring Brothers. “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

Proverbs 19, Proverbs of Solomon. There is wisdom in getting along with others, but do not give in to the wicked ones, a prudent wife is a gift is from the Lord, but a foolish son is his fathers ruin.

Psalm 114 is the second Psalm of the Hallel. In eight short verses it retells of God’s miracles of delivering them out of Egypt and into the promised land. Short and to the point.

November 14, read through the Holy Bible in a year.

James 4. Pride promotes strife but humility edifies when it comes from an active faith. ”Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Do not judge a brother, that is God’s domain and do not boast about tomorrow, be humble and recognize that God is in control.

Daniel 12. This chapter deals with the end times. Many have tried to make a final timeline out of this and out of Revelation, but the book is sealed until the time of the end. As Jesus himself said: “Only the Father in heaven knows.” It makes for a very interesting and thought provoking read.

Psalm 113. This Psalm is part of the “Hallel”, consisting of Psalm 113-118. Two are sung before and three after the Passover meal. It begins and ends with Hallelujah, and praises God how He lifts up the lowly, even the barren woman.

November 12, read through the Holy Bible in a year.

James 3:1-12. We can tame a horse, put a bridle in his mouth to control him, steer a ship with a small rudder but we can not tame our tongue. There are two types of wisdom, heavenly wisdom, coming from God and earthly wisdom coming from man that can even be demonic. Heavenly wisdom produces peacemakers, earthly wisdom, not so much.

Daniel 9 is all about Daniel’s prayer and the “seventy sevens”. Many have tried to predict the return of Jesus Christ based on this prophesy. So far, all have failed. Even Jesus said he could not predict the day of his return, only that it is imminent. God only knows, and He ain’t telling. We live in “today” and “today” is the day of salvation.

Daniel 10. Daniel saw a vision of a man. It is described in colorful images, much like the way Jesus Christ is pictured in the book of Revelation. He became completely exhausted, fell asleep and was having a dream. In this dream the angel Michael spoke to him and told Daniel about his own struggle and about future events.

Psalm 111. A short, beautiful psalm with this truth: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Psalm 112 like Psalm 111 is an acrostic Psalm, meaning that each line (not verse) begins with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet, starting with Aleph and ending with Taw. It tells of the blessings that follow the man that fears the LORD. Not so the wicked.

November 9, read through the Holy Bible in a year.

James 1:19-29 is more than any letter a bridge between the Old and the New Testament. It encourages us to be swift to hear and slow to wrath, and above all. be doers and not hearers only of the word, for that is true religion – faith in action.

Daniel 5. This is the famous chapter with the handwriting on the wall: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin“

Daniel 6. Time passed. Daniel was by then about 80 years old. He was still praying as he always did, three times a day but not to King Darius, and for that he was thrown into the lions’ den. God sent his angel to protect Daniel, so the next morning he was rescued unharmed, but for his accusers, thrown into the same den after Daniel came out it turned out the lions were really hungry.

Psalm 109, of David. Leaving vengeance to God, David prayed for the full measure of God’s vengeance to be poured out on his wicked enemies. He is “poor and needy” and vengeance is God’s business.

November 5, read through the Holy Bible in a year.

Hebrews 12:1-13. Let us fix our eyes to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Daniel 1. This book is most probably written by Daniel during his life. This has been questioned because of the many, accurate prophesies in it. It begins with Daniel and three other Hebrew children as they are taken into the Babylonian King’s administration as interns, and are given new names. They refuse the non- kosher diet, and pass the test.

Psalm 107. God to the rescue. It is a telling of four “saysos” as the Southerners used to say as they called for testimonials in their revival meetings:  “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so“. The Israelites kept getting in trouble and finally cried out to the LORD, and He saved them out of their distresses. This is a remarkably positive Psalm.

Psalm 108, a Psalm, a song of David. Here David repeated parts from Psalm 57 and Psalm 60 and used it to ask for God’s help in his further conquests as he subdued nations around him.

November 4, read through the Holy Bible in a year.

Hebrews 11:23-40 is called “the great faith chapter”. The writer of Hebrews continues his history of faith with Moses’ parents, Moses, the people crossing the Red Sea, the fall of the walls of Jericho and the friendly innkeeper Rahab. Then the author ran out of time to mention Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets. “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

Proverbs 18, Proverbs of Solomon. God looks at the heart, take heed and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, not men.

Psalm 106 is a follow-on of Psalm 105. While Psalm 105 tells of the story of God’s people from Abraham to Moses, Psalm 106 continues from the crossing of the Red Sea (or Sea of Reeds) to the sins committed ,even to the child sacrifices to the gods of Canaan. The psalmist prayed for deliverance from the heathens and return and restoration of the promised land. The Psalm begins and ends with a Hallelujah (praise the LORD).

October 29 , read through the Holy Bible in a year.

Hebrews 8. Jesus, among all other things is forever the High Priest of the New Covenant.

Ezekiel 37. This is the famous chapter about the valley of dry bones and how they are coming alive. They shall become one nation under one King.

Psalm 105. God is faithful to His Covenant people, and retells the account of what He did for the Hebrews from Abraham to the wanderings in the wilderness.

October 28, read through the Holy Bible in a year.

Hebrews 7:11-28 tells of Jesus, the high priest, after the order of Melchizedek. Thanks to this, animal sacrifices according to the Law are done away with, and “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.”

Ezekiel 35 is a declaration of judgment on Mount Seir.

Ezekiel 36. Now it is getting interesting. God proclaimed a future blessing on Israel and the rebirth of Israel. (I took the liberty to put in a few interesting pictures.)

Psalm 104. God is Lord of all creation. He is worthy of all praise. Let us count the ways.

October 24, read through the Holy Bible in a year.

Hebrews 5. Jesus, a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. As being forever, Jesus is God, as being born of Mary, he is man, as being adopted of Joseph, he is King, and as of the order of Melchizedek, he is Priest. Priests offer sacrifices, first for themselves because of sin, but Jesus, being without sin offered himself for our sins, died and rose again for our justification. Thanks to this, we have the hope of eternal life!

Ezekiel 25 gives prophecies against Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia.

Ezekiel 26 is a devastating prophecy against Tyre.

Psalm 103, of David. There are many songs of praise in the Bible. This is probably the purest of them all. It combines God’s mercifulness and our shortcomings, His healing power and our frailty and above all our very limited life here on earth and the eternity of God.

October 22, read through the Holy Bible in a year.

Hebrews 4:1-10 deals with the Sabbath-rest for the People of God. The Jews in the wilderness could not enter because of disobedience, but we, thanks to Jesus, who believe can enter. Remember, “Today” is the key word. Read it carefully!

Ezekiel 20. Though Israel pleaded with God, He would not listen because of their rebellious idol worship. God through Ezekiel then retold the history of Israel and their idolatry and blasphemy, Israel will be severely punished, but in the end, God will restore Israel. The chapter ends with a prophecy against the South, God will destroy the Southern forests.

Psalm 102. A penitential psalm. It recalls the great deeds and miracles God did for His people in the wilderness, and how they disobeyed and turned to idols, even to the point of child sacrifice. In spite of this God is still merciful and there is still hope. It ends with a Hallelujah!